Amazon’s Kindle Fire turned its fair share of heads this past September, but rival Barnes and Noble wasn’t just sitting around twiddling their thumbs with the Fire grabbed headlines. Barnes and Noble has already tested the tablet/reader concept with the Nook Color, and now Engadget reports that the company is ready for round 2 with the new Nook Tablet.
At first glance, the Nook Tablet looks just about identical to the original Nook Color — hopefully the resemblance is close enough that older model accessories will be able to see continued use. The screen still comes in at 7 inches, but the BN swapped the original display for an improved VividView IPS touch panel.
Under the hood lies a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and a WiFi radio. Oh, and it supports enough file formats to make you go cross-eyed. It’s undoubtedly a solid package, and it’s coming down the pipeline fast: it’s slated debut on November 16, with a $249 price tag.
So, what exactly does the extra $50 net you? Well, double the amount of RAM, for one thing: the Nook Tablet pits 1GB against the Kindle Fire’s 512. What’s more, the Nook Tablet takes microSD cards, so media hoarders will be able to lug entire seasons of Doctor Who around on a whim. B&N also appears to have quite the media environment built up for their new tablet: a closer look at the leaked imaged confirms support for Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Pandora right out of the gate.
In short, Amazon’s going to have a real fight on their hands soon.